Seeing Double
by tohfa
Summary: Sherlock is completely unaware that he has fathered twin children, that is until the teens barge into his life. Their circumstances are surrounded by sorrow and mystery, and frankly Sherlock isn't interested. But when the pieces of the puzzle start to come together he finds himself drawn in, and maybe he's even started to care about these children he most definitely doesn't want.
1. Chapter 1

**So just a brief note, I wrote a similar story quite a while ago under a different account but fell out of love with writing so stopped. Since then I'd like to think my writing ability has improved somewhat so I'm trying again. I've always liked this as an idea and want to try and do it justice. Enjoy!**

* * *

In front of Mrs Hudson stood two teenagers; a boy and a girl. They looked very similar, but then again they _were_ twins. They looked at each other confusedly upon seeing Mrs Hudson.

"Erm... Hi we're looking for Sherlock Holmes, does he happen to be in?" asked the girl as she fiddled with the sleeves of her baggy jumper.

"Oh yes, he's right upstairs. SHERLOCK SOMEONE TO SEE YOU!" The twins flinched slightly at the unexpected loudness, but were amused by her behaviour. The girl looked encouragingly at the boy and led the way upstairs. John opened the door before they had the chance to knock and looked at the twins.

"Yes?" John asked, trying hard not to shout at the twins who had just interrupted an argument about whether or not Sherlock should be allowed to 'toast' eyeballs in the microwave.

"Sherlock Homes?" asked the boy. John gestured violently towards the kitchen. The teens drank in their surroundings, trying to imprint every detail into their memory. They stopped as their eyes fell onto the man they had been searching for.

"What?" Sherlock snapped. John shot him a warning glare.

"Hello Mr Holmes, we were wondering if we could talk to you in private about something personal." Sherlock glanced at the boy and went back to the microwave to fiddle with the settings.

"No, I'm not interested." The girl walked towards him, desperately grabbing his arm.

"Please it's important." she begged as she tried to pull him to face her. He ripped his arm from her grasp and looked at her angrily.

"I said no, now go away. I don't deal with children."

"Not even your own?" she asked, immediately covering her mouth with her hand and turning to look at her twin brother who was glaring at her. This was not how they had planned this going. They had wanted to sit Sherlock down and explain everything calmly.

"I beg your pardon." John almost shouted in disbelief. The girl rummaged around her bag before pulling out some papers triumphantly. Sherlock snatched the papers from her hand and skimmed through them. He glanced at the children before walking swiftly out of the apartment.

"Where's he off to?" asked the boy confused.

"I have no idea..." John was in shock, he stared at the children, finally seeing the striking resemblance. As a result of their mother being Indian their skin was dark, but the girls face seemed almost identical. Despite the boy looking drastically different from his sister his lanky body was typically Sherlock. John went to chase after Sherlock suddenly realising the inner turmoil his friend must be facing. "Stay here" he said offhandedly to the teens as he sped after him.

The teens stood there for a few moments after they heard the door close after him until the boy started laughing gently.

"What? This is not a laughing matter Sohail, I really fucked it up." The girl said as Sohail flopped down onto the couch.

"It's nothing. But I mean you were a nervous wreck on the train-"

"So were you." she interjected

"Yeah ok fair, but like it's out of the way now we can just chill."

"We cannot _chill._ Ugh this really couldn't have gone worse." Sohail chuckled at his sister before standing up and wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

"Shabnam, calm down. Honestly, you did a good job. Far better than _I_ did, I just stood there. Now come sit down I wanna nap."

* * *

"Sherlock! Sherlock wait!" Sherlock didn't seem to notice John's shouting as he got into the cab. John rushed into the cab behind him slightly out of breath. "Where are you going? You can't just leave them in there."

"Diogenes Club." Sherlock said to the cab driver, completely ignoring John.

"Sherlock you can't honestly be going to see Mycroft. We have a situation to deal with here. Sherlock? You can't just ignore me. God you're so infuriating." John gave up and sat silently for the rest of a drive in a huff.


	2. Chapter 2

"Brother, how lovely to see you again" Mycroft almost taunted as Sherlock stalked towards him. It was a very rare occurrence that his brother sought him out and he intended to savour it. Sherlock threw some papers towards him and Mycroft rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatics. At times his brother really was exasperating, nonetheless it was evident Sherlock needed his help so he resigned himself to being a good brother. He looked through the papers trying to disguise his shock.

"Your signature isn't forged" Mycroft muttered to himself.

"Your genius astounds me brother." John looked between the two in confusion.

"I'm sorry but what's going on? What exactly are those papers?" Sherlock huffed in annoyance and shot John a look that screamed "god you're such an idiot".

"It seems that when Sherlock was a young man he sold his sperm, and I'll assume you've met the results." John was shocked, he was convinced Sherlock didn't have a paternal bone in his body.

"How could you not tell me?" Sherlock almost screamed, the anger in his eyes focused solely on his brother and his betrayal.

"Well I wasn't aware of it." Mycroft was growing visibly uncomfortable as he started to understand and acknowledge the consequences of the discovery. He was an uncle, something he never thought possible. And Sherlock was a father...and the likeliness of him being a good one was very low. He vowed to protect and care for his niece and nephew. Though Sherlock may not believe it he cared a lot about his family, and despite how trivial Sherlock might find the concept he wanted to do right by the children.

"You always know these things Mycroft." Sherlock snapped.

"Yes well there were some..." Mycroft paused as he tried to find the right words, "lapses in my ability to track you when your addiction got worse. You must have needed the money quite desperately if you resorted to this." Sherlock glared at his brother before storming out. John watched in shock as he left.

"There's no way surely..." John muttered to himself.

"There most certainly is. Did the children look at all like him?" John nodded slowly. "Well then I suggest you go after him and prevent him doing something rash." John seemed to come to his senses at that and rushed away. Mycroft chuckled to himself, the shock subsiding. He was unnaturally excited and it surprised him, and relief washed over him as he realised the burden did not lie with him to produce grandchildren for his parents, the pressure was finally off. He set to work finding out as much about the children as possible and how he could have not known about their existence.

* * *

The teens were napping on the couch when Sherlock barged in, Sohail's head resting on his sisters shoulder. Sherlock was about to shout at them to wake up when John pulled him back and looked at him angrily. They had argued for the whole cab ride. Sherlock continued to insist the children were not his and though John could recognise that it was just the shock talking his vehement denial was getting frustrating. Sherlock wanted the teens out of his home and out of his life. John on the other hand disagreed, even if the children weren't his they had obviously sought him out for a reason and to abandon them would be morally questionable.

"Sherlock leave them to sleep," John angrily whispered, "look it's late they're bound to be starving, they'll stay for dinner."

"I do not want them here." Sherlock whispered loudly.

"Yes well I do and this is just as much my home as it is yours." Sherlock glared at John before relenting and going to his room determined to avoid the children. John sighed rubbing a hand over his face. He tried to think what the twins would like to eat and decided it would be best to order pizza.

* * *

Shabnam woke to someone nudging her awake and for a moment she forget everything that had happened. But as she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings she started to tear up, Sohail noticed this and hugged his sister tightly. "It's alright," he whispered, "John's got pizza." He looked at her with a smile and she couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. But Sohail was right even of everything had gone to shit eating something would help a little.

"The blog guy?" she questioned. Sohail nodded as they got up and walked to the table.

"Hi, I'm John. I didn't know what you'd want to eat so ordered a bit of everything I hope that's alright. I'm not sure that Sherlock will be joining us, I think he's in shock at the moment." Shabnam smiled at John, more happy at the prospect of food than having to talk to him. In her opinion Sohail was much better at talking to people, he'd always been the popular one. Shabnam much preferred avoiding as much human contact as possible, with the exception of her brother.

"We're Muslim, so we can't have any of the meat stuff unless it's halaal sorry." Sohail said before stuffing almost a whole slice of pizza in his mouth, he was starving. Shabnam started eating as well, but much more reservedly.

John looked slightly shocked. "Oh...erm...no I don't think it is halaal..."

Shabnam smiled up at him politely, she was used to people not really understanding or being aware of their dietary preferences. "No it's ok, thank you for the food it's really lovely." John smiled back at her and started to eat too. Sherlock stayed in his room the whole night, but listened in on the polite chatter John and the children had throughout dinner. John was using his doctor voice, being incredibly polite and not too personal. He steered clear of any topics he thought might open too many doors, he understood that was a conversation Sherlock needed to have with them, not him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just to clarify the twins are late teens, so 16/17 ish. Also this is set after Sherlock and John face Moriarty at the pool but before they meet Irene Adler, for the sake of this story she doesn't exist. Some characters will be a bit out of character so I can manipulate the plot better.**

* * *

Contrary to what most people thought Sherlock was not completely emotionless. In fact he felt very deeply, just not in the same way most other people did, and right now he was feeling extremely overwhelmed. He tried to still his mind, but to no avail. He could not be a father, he could not be responsible for those children. Children needed love and nurturing, he considered himself abysmal at anything along those lines. He had no idea what to even do with children, at times he could barely look after himself let alone two other people. Part of him recognised that this could be an opportunity, it gave him the chance to raise the children the way he wished he had been raised. However, this part was very much buried under countless thoughts of just how awful a parent he would be. He listened in to the ongoing conversation in the kitchen. John was using his doctor voice, being polite and not overly personal, it was very civil. He wished he could barge in and demand the children leave immediately, but things were already tense between him and John. John had said that if he did not give the children the chance he would never forgive him, and Sherlock really didn't want to disappoint John like that. He sighed, he really wished he could have something to just make him forget the past few hours. He needed to come up with a plan, one that would keep John happy whilst also getting rid of the children.

* * *

Sherlock walked into the kitchen the next morning hoping that the children had somehow disappeared. John was sleeping on the couch, he wouldn't do that unless he'd given up his bed for the children. Sherlock sighed and poked John until he woke up. John swatted Sherlock's hand away and told him to bugger off. Sherlock sighed even more dramatically again and continued poking John until he sat up, glaring at Sherlock.

"What do you want?"

"We're going to St Bart's" John shook his head.

"Can we not do this later?" Sherlock looked at John condescendingly and stormed back to his room. How dare John ask him that? Did he not realise the urgency? He needed to prove the children were not his as soon as possible so they would leave him alone.

* * *

John looked at the twins as they slept, from what he could gather last night they seemed perfectly normal, which when considered was extremely odd seeing as they were Sherlock's children. He didn't particularly want to wake them but he knew how Sherlock could get. He shook them both awake and gave them towels for the shower.

"Erm...John we didn't bring any extra clothes, I mean we only really meant to pop in... You don't happen to have an old t-shirt or anything it's just my clothes kinda smell." John mentally berated himself for not thinking of this.

"Yeah, of course. I'll see if I can find something for you both." He rushed immediately out and rummaged through his cupboard. He couldn't seem to find a thing that would suit the children, it became increasingly obvious to him that he really was getting old. He ended up deciding on two of the most comfortable jumpers he owned, if they couldn't look good they could at least feel good. He walked back in to see the twins in deep conversation looking very serious. He only managed to catch snippets as they were talking rather quietly.

"...I think he could help..." whispered Shabnam.

"...we can't...doesn't want us here..." Sohail scolded.

"...she's dead...justice..." Shabnam was desperately pleading with her brother.

"...face reality..." John was struggling to hear the rest of what Sohail was sayign, he thought he could make out plans of running away but he wasn't sure. He shuffled slightly closer to the door, which unfortunately for him caused the floorboards to creak. The teens abruptly stopped talking and looked curiously at the door. John entered, hoping they hadn't noticed he'd been eavesdropping, and handed them the jumpers.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything stylish, I hope this will do." Shabnam smiled at him softly as she ran her hands along the sleeve of one of the jumpers, enjoying it's softness.

"It's perfect, thank you." She said sincerely.

"And it's a bit nippy out so it's very practical, thanks John." Sohail beamed up at John. He really appreciated the man's kindness, especially considering Sherlock's coldness towards them.

"Oh, no problem." John gave them an awkward smile and left quickly.

"Do you reckon they're together?" Shabnam asked her brother. Sohail looked at her cheekily.

"It wouldn't surprise me." they laughed together before getting ready.

* * *

Sherlock ignored the twins completely as they walked into the kitchen. He didn't like that they were wearing John's jumpers at all. Though it was irrational Sherlock decided at that moment that the twins were 'obviously' using and manipulating John and that they planned to do the same to him. Well he simply wasn't going to let them. John had made them some toast and tea, further delaying their journey to St Bart's. He listened to their pointless chatter intensely, attempting to find something that proved they weren't as innocent as John believed them to be. Annoyingly he couldn't seem to find anything, but he reassured himself that he would prove it soon. Sherlock continued to ignore and observe them on the cab ride to St Bart's, much to John's annoyance. He knew Sherlock could be a prat but this was a new low for him. There were only so many excuses he could make for him, and the twins could see John's patience wearing thin.

Sherlock burst into the morgue giving Molly Hooper quite the shock. Following him (less enthusiastically) were John and the twins. Molly was even more taken aback that Sherlock had children with him, in a morgue of all places. She mentally tutted at him for his poor behaviour and at John for not stopping him. Without saying a word Sherlock went rummaging around the lab, picking up various pieces of equipment along the way.

"Hi Sherlock-" began Molly.

"Busy." snapper Sherlock, not even looking at Molly. She frowned to herself before pulling herself together. She was getting a bit fed up with Sherlock in all honesty, despite all she had done for him his lack of appreciation was truly astounding. She turned and smiled at John and the children.

"Hey, sorry about this but I don't think it's appropriate to have the children down here." John looked alarmed, he hadn't thought of that. He didn't feel comfortable leaving Sherlock or the twins alone. Sensing his panic Molly attempted to better the situation, "There's a waiting room not far from here." John nodded and left with the teens. As much as he didn't want to leave the kids he really needed to have a word with Sherlock about his extremely rude behaviour.


	4. Chapter 4

John walked back into the lab to see Molly busy at her desk and Sherlock fiddling with various chemicals. He attempted to ignore his growing discomfort at leaving the twins with little success, the worry that something could happen to them was slowly growing. He walked up to Sherlock, readying himself for the argument he knew was coming.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" John asked Sherlock accusingly.

"Paternity test." Sherlock stated simply. Molly spluttered behind them, shocked at the possibility of Sherlock being a father.

"You know that's not what I mean. Besides when exactly did you get a chance to get any of their DNA while you were completely ignoring them."

"While they were sleeping." John was very much struggling not to shout at Sherlock.

"Do you realise what an invasion of privacy that is? Sherlock you can't do stuff like that."

"Yes well it's an urgent matter." John huffed in annoyance.

"Sherlock, even _if_ they turn out not to be yours the way you've been treating them is awful. You can't just ignore them. They've obviously been through a lot and you're not helping I mean...I heard them talking about running away."

"Good. Let them." John was truly baffled by Sherlock's disinterest.

"How can you say that!"

"They have nothing to do with me why do I care."

"Shabnam looks just like you!" Sherlock looked at John in desperation. However John had never seen Sherlock truly desperate so interpreted his facial expression as being one of derision.

"That doesn't mean she's mine, people can look like each other without being related."

"God you're frustrating." John said as he sat on a seat near Sherlock, his arms angrily crossed. Sherlock continued with his work, becoming less convinced that the children weren't his. Molly had watched the entire scene unfold with shock and slight horror. Sherlock being a parent was not something she had ever thought possible. She'd had a crush on him for a while now, but when fantasising about their future never once had she considered children as the idea seemed so ridiculous she couldn't even bring herself to imagine it. It wasn't that Sherlock wasn't caring, she'd seen how loving he could be in his own way, it was just that he had a tendency to be harsh. Nonetheless, she had hope that he would rise to the challenge and be a good father if the children were his, which she thought incredibly likely considering the resemblance.

* * *

"Its not all bad, they've got free tea." Shabnam rolled her eyes at her brother. She was in a foul mood, she felt sick of being treated like such a burden. She'd disagreed with Sohail that morning about just leaving but she was really starting to see the appeal. Sure John had been very apologetic but being dumped in some shitty waiting room was not her idea of a good time, she supposed it was better than going back home though...not that there was much of a home to go back to.

"They might as well have let us stay in bed. Do you reckon they're ever coming back? They've been gone forever, I think they've decided to abandon us here." Sohail chuckled at his sister's dramatics.

"It's been like half an hour, relax. Besides he's probably gone to do a paternity test and that's gonna take some time."

"Yes I _know_ that but they could hurry it up a tad."

"Divorced." Sohail said with a smile. Shabnam turned to see the man he was looking at and signed dramatically. "Desperately single too."

"I don't want to play." Sohail nudged her with his elbow.

"Only because you know you'd lose." Shabnam gave him a determined look, figuring she had nothing better to do.

"Not that desperate, he had sex last night." Sohail looked at her confusedly.

"What? No he didn't!"

"With a guy." Sohail looked closer and reluctantly realised she was right.

"Shit. You win." She smiled smugly, but the joy of her victory was brief once she remembered how incredibly bored she was.

"Orphans." The twins turned around to see where the statement had come from. They saw a boy around their age slouched a few chairs away from them, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his baggy hoodie.

"What did you say?" Asked Sohail in shock, they'd not said it out loud yet and to hear it said by a stranger was irrevocably painful.

"Was I right?" The twins shared a pained look, they didn't want to be dealing with this right now.

"Who even are you?" questioned Shabnam.

"Guess." the boy said as he turned to face them.

"You're such a dick." Sohail exclaimed with a smile. Shabnam immediately rushed over and pulled the boy into a tight hug, much to his surprise.

"Alex where the fuck have you been? Do you know how hard we looked for you, I really hate you right now." Alex patted her awkwardly on the back.

"Traditionally you don't hug people you hate." Shabnam pulled back from the hug and swatted his arm lightly. She beamed at him, excited to see her old childhood friend.

"No but really, where did you go? You just vanished, it was like you never even existed. Honestly, if it wasn't for some pictures Mum took I'd have thought we'd imagined you." Sohail looked at Alex seriously, as much as he had missed his old friend his re-appearance was very suspicious.

"My dad showed up, things got pretty hectic after that. I tried to get back in contact but...I dunno...I figured you guys would probably be busy and stuff." Shabnam frowned at him. She saw his discomfort and it pained her. Alex had always had low self-esteem, they'd constantly had to reassure him that he was their best friend and that they genuinely liked him. It seemed likely that once he'd left he'd have convinced himself they were glad he was gone, which couldn't be further from the truth.

"Alex, we missed you loads. You're still our best friend, you know that right? Besides we could never be too busy for you." Alex looked awkwardly at the floor, he struggled to hide his emotions.

"Yeah but you had school and stuff, I didn't want to get in the way." Alex was trying his hardest not to let himself cry. It had been so long since he'd seen them, and he greatly regretted everything that had happened between them.

"School's such a bore," Sohail said, walking over to sit on the other side of Alex, "besides you're the only one that could keep up with us."

Alex chuckled and wiped a tear from his eyes, happy to be with his friends once again. "As if! You were the ones keeping up with me." The friends laughed together, all feeling young again. "I'm sorry about your mum, she was really nice. I missed her a lot when I left...I can't believe she's gone."

Shabnam rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "She used to think of you as her honorary son you know, she left you some stuff in her will, she always hoped you'd come back. God she'd be so happy to see you...not sure she'd recognise you though you though, you've got so tall!"

"Yes well puberty tends to do that to you." They laughed together and continued to catch up over the next few hours. Alex told them about why he had disappeared and the twins told him all about the last few years.

Alex had been living with his grandmother since he was a baby, his mother had died in childbirth and his dad hadn't been able to cope and had run away. Alex had always been a strange child and didn't get on with other children, they often bullied him for his quiet and strange ways, it got so bad that him and his grandmother had to move away. Luckily for Alex his new neighbours were just as strange as him, and he became good friends with the twins. They would spend every day together, playing and having fun. This all changed when they were 12 and Alex and his grandmother completely disappeared. Their house was completely empty, no one knew where they had gone. Alex told them that his dad had come back and they had all moved to Paris, because it was all very last-minute he hadn't had a chance to say goodbye and he'd felt too nervous to get back in contact. The twins understood this, but still felt that Alex was hiding something from them. They didn't push the topic though, just glad he was back in their lives. They were sure Alex would tell them when he was ready.


End file.
